Prior to his current role at Intellectual Ventures, Ennis was managing director of ARCH Venture Partners “where he funded and built startups,” Wipro said.Anirban Sen | ET Bureau | March 15, 2016, 12:04 IST

BENGALURU: Wipro has appointed technologist and venture capitalist Patrick J. Ennis as an independent director to its board, at a time when India’s third largest outsourcing firm is aggressively ramping up its investments in early-stage startups to tap into bolder and disruptive technology ideas.

A former AT&T and Bell Labs executive, Ennis is currently the Global Head of Technology at Intellectual Ventures, which focuses on building a portfolio of patents that it buys and creating a large patent portfolio. Ennis primarily focuses on technology commercialisation worldwide at Intellectual Ventures, Wipro said.

’He brings in a unique combination of scientific curiosity, an in-depth understanding of the startup ecosystem and business insights. I am confident Wipro will immensely benefit from his wide experience,” said Wipro’s billionaire chairman Azim Premji in a statement.

Prior to his current role at Intellectual Ventures, Ennis was managing director of ARCH Venture Partners “where he funded and built startups in a wide range of markets and technologies,” Wipro said.

Ennis’s appointment comes at a crucial juncture for Wipro. While Wipro is attempting to shore up revenue growth from its traditional outsourcing business under new CEO Abidali Neemuchwala and catch up with larger rivals such as TCS, Cognizant and Infosys, the company is also going the extra mile to ensure that it does not miss the bus on newer technology offerings.

Under strategy chief Rishad Premji, who also spearheads Wipro’s $100-million venture capital arm, Wipro is aggressively tapping into early-stage startups with new-age, disruptive technology solutions that some of its largest customers are asking for.

Over the past two years, Wipro has invested in at least seven early-stage ventures, including Silicon Valley-based artificial intelligence startup Vicarious and Internet of Things startup Altizon.

Crosstown arch-rival Infosys has also been beefing up its board since Vishal Sikka took over as CEO in August 2014. In January Infosys named Punita Kumar-Sinha as a board member, weeks after former White House Secretary Carol M. Browner stepped down from the board. In December 2014, Infosys also brought in Stanford University’s Provost John Etchemendy on to its board.

ET had first reported in November that Infosys was planning to add at least two members to its board in the next six months even as it intends to stick to its strategy of having a lean board with not more than two executive directors to ensure faster decision-making.

ET had also reported on March 9 last year that Wipro was also preparing to add new board members and bring in more deep technology expertise on the board.

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